By Jim Griffith

The following work was submitted by Jim Griffith, and details the history and rise to demipower status of Fenrys Andrea, a one-time member of The Riders of Elvenflow.  Also listed below are the Faiths and Avatars formatted deity information for Fenrys, including details on Specialty Priests.  Download and install the Tolkien font for the best results).

	History of Fenrys Andrea
	The Rise to Demipower
	Avatar Statistics
	The Impersonation Plot
	Specialty Priests of Fenrys - Sanctifiers

Extreme in his views and wild in his demeanor, Fenrys had few friends. He was forced into companionship with the Riders of Elvenflow when he and the group were branded with magical Azure Bonds. He witnessed violations against the woodlands by several early members that would be revisited upon them years later. In fact, when Fzoul Chembryl slew every good aligned member of the group in a disastrous encounter, the narrowly escaping Fenrys remarked "At least we've cleared the dead wood from the group!"

Fenrys remained associated with the Riders in after the group settled the town of Elvenflow, and enjoyed a reciprocal relationship with Magnus Xavier (the group's leader). In years prior to his death, Fenrys was seen to have mellowed a bit, and possibly to have been almost agreeable. However, such fond feelings could almost be granted to nostalgia and fading memories.

Fenrys was never sure of his past, and often gave conflicting tales of his origin. He harbored great guilt at the abandonment of his family to the invading Vaasan army in his native Damara (or did it really happen?). He also claimed to have been raised by Centaurs, and was never sure himself of his own origins. He lived for the woodlands alone. Balance and the sanctity of nature were all important nothing else mattered in the least.

He was destroyed by a retributive strike (from a broken Staff of the Magi) while fighting Zhentarim forces alongside Giotto Voltaran. He was given a hero's funeral, with a funeral pyre, even attended by druids in disagreement with Fenrys.

A decade later, a young man bearing a resemblance to Fenrys appeared in the service of Tarntassa, a beautiful wizardess from Procampur. This Fenrys, a much more temperate individual, believed himself to be the abandoned son of the original Fenrys and harbored great resentment for his aloof and ruthless father.

A visionary for as long as he could remember, this druid found his visions turning to memories of the past. The disturbing nature of these visions led him to abandon his growing romance with Tarntassa and to seek his destiny in the wilderness. After five years of wandering, he appeared in Cormanthor and challenged a local archdruid to combat. This event was unremarkable, but what followed was horrific. Amazingly, Fenrys also challenged the Great Druid of the region to combat! After much discussion, the druids of the region agreed to let him compete. If the young one was so brazen, let him find a lesson in humility before all his peers (they had no intention of conferring the title).

In the days before this turn of events, the Riders were gathered by a stranger in the form of Adon of Mystra. Always seeking to rectify magical disturbances in the Realms, the goddess foretold events of great discord. Adon bade the Riders to witness the challenge of Fenrys, ironically occurring in the abandoned grove of his late father.

After arriving, the Riders witnessed Fenrys' stunning transformation into a frightening supernatural apparition. The creature savagely defeated the Great Druid. This conflict offended great Sylvanus, who never manifested but split the grove in two as a sign of his displeasure. The druids in attendance left, warning the Riders to do the same lest they fall into Sylvanus' wrath as it was unleashed against this abomination.

They remained, and witnessed a confused and disoriented Fenrys as he resumed his normal form. As they were in the company of the Magister, the Riders wished to accommodate Mystra and made a great show of enthusiastically subduing and capturing Fenrys. Peace was short lived, as word soon arrived of great discord in Procampur. When they arrived, the Riders found themselves in the midst of a great undead incursion. Leaving Fenrys behind, they sought to protect Tarntassa lest she be used as a pawn against them while they attempted to make sense of the suddent turn of events.

In the confusion, Cyric himself abducted Tarntassa and swore to slay her unless Fenrys take her place. Fenrys, becoming aware of his true nature, asked the Riders to transport him to the Outlands where he would find Sylvanus himself. In the meantime, the Riders ventured into Cyric's dark realm in search of Tarntassa.

When they returned successfully from the evil depths, they encountered a transformed Fenrys Andrea, standing twice his normal height and bearing much resemblance to his form at the ancient grove. He appeared as a combination of the two individuals known to them, plus others besides. After finding Tarntassa horrified by what he had become, Fenrys vanished.

The Riders found themselves greatly disturbed to see a man push forth from the earth between their feet. Their surprise turned to shock when the man identified himself as Knobolathan, a druid from their ranks who had died in combat years before. He informed them of his solemn mission from Sylvanus to serve as guide for the lost druids of Faerun until they sought out Fenrys as their protector.

Unfortunately, Knobolathan was content to be at rest and sought no more hardship among the living. He spent a melancholy turn of seasons building Fenrys' early flock, and happily returned to his rest in the following spring.

Tarntassa, attempting to rejoin Fenrys, found herself unable to tolerate his desolate realm for more than a few months at a time. For Fenrys was the long vanished god of nature gone wrong. Millenia ago, the power tired of his grim duties and sought escape in the form of mortality. Dispersing his portfolio to those who would lay claim, Fenrys began an endless cycle of reincarnation and rebirth. He ultimately lost his sense of self and randomly appeared in the realms, most often as a half elven druid.

Fenrys
(Andrea, the Reluctant God, Patron of Lost Druids)
Demipower of Limbo, CN

Fenrys embodies the harsh realities of nature and enforces the consequences of time. He predates many of the powers in the Realms, but has not been worshipped for eons. Until the events of the Dawn Cataclysm drove him mad, Fenrys belonged to a conclave of nature powers that included Silvanus and Chauntea. Chauntea's structured cultivation balanced the untamed wilderness of Silvanus, and both gave way to the necessary decline and decay represented by Fenrys. Rebirth came from a youthful, powerful, and naïve god of the morning named Lathander. This peaceful coexistence ended when Lathander attempted to destroy all evil and reincarnate the realms in his own divine image, a catastrophe that would come to be remembered as the Dawn Cataclysm.

Fenrys, a compassionate power charged with an unpleasant portfolio, became known in those halcyon days as the "reluctant god". The sufferings of mortals caught in the swath of natural disasters disturbed him greatly, and efforts to forestall winter for the benefit of survivors frequently invoked the wrath of Auril. The death and destruction that resulted from the Dawn Cataclysm became to great a burden for Fenrys to bear, and he petitioned Jergal, the ancient Lord of the Dead, to stay his grim hand. The precursor to Bane, Myrkul, and Bhaal agreed to reduce the tragedy by some degree if Fenrys were to abdicate his own role in the cycle of life. Too eagerly, the anguished god agreed to the terms.

The sacrifice of Fenrys was not looked kindly upon by Silvanus, as he recognized the greater evil that would come from Jergal's new authority over the decline of living things.  Chauntea, for her part, empathized with Fenrys and wished to see his suffering end.  For this purpose, she garnered a very repentant Lathander's aid in protecting the fallen power from oblivion in the wastes of the astral plane.  Using a small portion of his own power, the Morninglord created a mortal form for Fenrys that would be perpetually reborn when death occurred.  To honor the wishes of Chauntea, his love, he ensured that all memories of godhood would also fade over time.  Thus, Fenrys was allowed to enjoy the peace long denied him as a deity.

For centuries untold, the spirit of Fenrys walked the realms as a mortal.  He would reappear in the Realms some decades after each demise, always living in obscure contentment as a druid or forest creature.  Remarkably, some small worship of Fenrys as a power persisted until the fall of Myth Drannor, when the last elven worshipper of an aspect named Felidar Marilon perished.  The faith drew its true power from Lathander, and the only vestige of this forgotten legacy to survive to the present exists in the half-elven nature of Fenrys' avatar.

With the arrival of Tyr in the Realms, various sages and adventurers introduced exotic tales of a creature known as the Fenrys Wolf, a beast so formidable that a power lost a hand to force its capture.  Such rumors brought faint remembrances of the lost faith to the people of Faerun, and its mortal remnant began to awaken.  After the total devastation of Damara by a malevolent entity known as the Witch King, Fenrys manifested on a battlefield as a half-elven druid.  Although he used the name Fenrys, his memory was muddled and confused.  This incarnation wandered the realms as an adventurer and malcontent, seeking answers for barely formed questions that surged within his mind.   Circumstances eventually forced him to join a band of adventurers known as the Riders of Elvenflow; he was considered by some members to be an eccentric and by others a menace.  When a mage destroyed Fenrys with a retributive strike, the Riders considered him gone.   However, he was again reborn, this time as a gardener in the service of Tarntassa of Procampur.

This embodiment was passive, calm, and truly balanced.  He believed his previous incarnation to be his father and a traitor, a selfish druid who caused the death of his mother by deserting the Damaran militia.  For several years, he traveled the realms with a band named the Valiant Vanguard, demonstrating a strong ability to predict future events.  This strange talent drew the attention of various entities, including the monks of Candlekeep who mistook Fenrys for one of Alaundo's descendants.  During these years, he also became romantically involved with Tarntassa.  After the Symbul of Aglarond apprehended him for mysterious purposes, Fenrys left the Vanguard when the Riders of Elvenflow secured his release.  As they once claimed the previous Fenrys as a member, they sought to understand the nature of this new individual.

Over time, the young druid's gifts of prophecy began to diminish and ultimately vanished.  His dreams became nightmarish panoramas of conflict and disaster.  He slowly came to understand through such visions that he had existed for thousands of years, beginning life anew in an endless cycle.  The shock of this realization manifested in a very negative form.  Fenrys soon engaged in a heated and almost violent confrontation with Tarntassa, where he accused her of only valuing him as a "magical curiosity".   Offended and hurt, the mage banished Fenrys from her sight.  He aimlessly wandered the realms, always gravitating towards the location of his past form's grove near Haptooth Hill.

In the execution of her mission to restore the magical weave of Faerun to its condition before the Time of Troubles, Mystra had become aware of Fenrys.  Savras, the god of divination, advised his Mistress of an upcoming event where Fenrys would attempt to draw on his remaining otherworldly might. Even as a greatly weakened power, Fenrys still possessed a mantle of divinity. If he was allowed to continue, he could upset the magical weave at a level unseen since the Godswar!   The current Magister had once been a member of the Valiant Vanguard, and had befriended the youthful Fenrys.  Mystra soon arranged an unexpected visit from Adon, her patriarch.   Of course, the Magister was eager to assist the in any task required.  Unfortunately, the quest involved the apprehension of one of his oldest friends and allies.

Gathering a powerful group of adventurers, the Magister set out to observe the foretold event.  The band arrived at the old grove north of Haptooth Hill in time to witness a druidic contest taking form.  Soon after, Fenrys soundly bested the reigning Archdruid for her position in the hierarchy.  Incredibly, he proceeded to challenge the presiding Great Druid to single combat as well!  This caused much consternation among the onlookers, and Fenrys was seized and pummeled.  The Great Druid, in an effort to simultaneously honor Druidic custom and humiliate Fenrys, agreed to the challenge.  Fenrys was advised that the victor would have the option of executing the loser.  He readily accepted the terms.

What began as a simple test of martial skill developed into a horrific display of supernatural power.  Soon after combat began, the sky darkened and nearby trees rapidly turned to rust and shed their leaves.   Several witnesses to the event maintain to this day that they felt progressively older before they could flee the grove.   Fenrys, for his part, was transformed into a horrifying apparition.  His face hardened into a blackened mask, and horns sprouted angrily from his head as if living things of their own accord.  His clothing became as dried leaves, and his hands became hooked and shriveled talons.  Worst of all, the leaves that covered his now gaunt frame cut wickedly through the air to repeatedly gash the Great Druid.  When the Magister's agents attempted to intervene, they were brutally repulsed, with the glowing gaze of the apparition temporarily aging them as they fell.

Before the creature could slay the Great Druid, lightning struck the center of the grove and rent the earth asunder.  This took place on the annual "Night the Forest Moves", and the druids of the region claim it was a direct manifestation of Silvanus' wrath.  Whatever the source, the distraction was enough to allow the Great Druid to escape death. Fenrys, for his part, instantly reverted to his own mortal form.   Bewildered and confused, the Magister quickly teleported him away from the very panicked and hostile druids that remained.

With this awakening of his power, Fenrys became a true threat to the Realms: a god without responsibility or conscious intent.   Essentially, his presence was akin to the abomination of Moander unleashed twenty winters before.  Instantly, a power struggle ensued between Malar the Beastlord and Cyric.  Both desired the unclaimed might of the ancient god, and Tarntassa herself became embroiled in the conflict as a hostage to the Prince of Lies.  While the Magister and his allies sought her release from Cyric's chaotic domain, Fenrys delved into the Beastlands to confront Silvanus.  On the way, he encountered Malar; it is unknown if the threat of this dark power forced the Leaflord's hand, or if the god recognized a need for the restoration of Fenrys' grim faith.  Faced with oblivion, Fenrys chose to resume his ancient role with much regret.  The heroes, in true fashion, rescued Tarntassa from the vile clutches of Cyric.

Mielikki, the caretaker of Myrkul's old portfolio of Autumn (which he had once inherited from Jergal), readily restored its duties to Fenrys.  He also recovered Myrkul's lost dominions of old age and decay.  Chauntea, pleased with the turn of events, allowed Fenrys to again govern the Harvest.   Lastly, Silvanus ordered Fenrys to govern unbalanced nature.   This dark assignment underscored the level of fealty owed by Fenrys to Silvanus.  Without the greater power's protection and influence, the Beastlord would surely have consumed the fraction of divinity that remained.  To reinforce his role, Silvanus temporarily resurrected a deceased druid named Knobalathan to promote the faith of Fenrys in the heartlands.

At the same time, the Grand Druid would announce an edict.  This proclamation would absolve all "lost druids", those who had lost the way of the wilderness and embraced strange magics, and allow the opportunity to convert to Fenrys by the coming fall.  After that time, they would be considered anathema and put down.  Knobalathan, a unique individual in his own regard, despised every moment of his semblance of life but was dutiful in spreading the faith.  When the Grand Druid's edict expired, the envoy of Silvanus happily returned to the earth from which he was created.

Fenrys has of late restored his ancient domain in Limbo, known as the Lost Refuge.  Within its deep valley folds dwell the extinct creatures of the realms, as well as the spirits of beast cult adherents whose gods have long vanished from the Realms.  As Malar in most cases was responsible for their destruction, his faith and that of Fenrys are on very bitter terms.  For his own part, Fenrys chafes under the harsh restrictions placed on his influence by Silvanus.  Dark entreaties have been put forward by several nefarious powers, including the forces of Tempus and the truly alien goddess Entropy.  An aggressive god, the wrath of Fenrys against defilers of the woodlands is increasingly witnessed in the realms.  Whether he remains in the woodland fold, or becomes its nemesis, remains to be seen.

To date, Tarntassa has attempted to maintain some form of relationship with Fenrys.  As his realm is only bearable during autumn, when its glory surpasses the most beautiful of arboreal panoramas, she is always at his side.  During his cherished season, Fenrys is much like his younger, gentle incarnation.  As the frosts of winter beckon, Fenrys ages and gradually becomes more inhuman.  When the last leaf falls, Fenrys sheds all remnants of his mortal existence and embraces an impartial and ruthless persona.  It is unknown if this transformation results from Tarntassa's departure, or simply hastens it.

Fenrys's Avatar
(Ranger 25, Druid 30, Wizard 18)

Fenrys has manifested only twice in the Realms since his return, once to create the temporary clay form for Knobolathan and again to disrupt a plot by Cyricists that involved impersonating his avatar (see below). In the first instance, he appeared to the adventurers who had liberated Tarntassa from imprisonment in his most recent mortal form. This embodiment appeared as a seven foot tall half elven male, with fiery red hair that reaches to his waist. Garbed in robes that bore an interwoven pattern of autumn leaves, he wore bronze banded mail that gleamed like the sun. He also carried a mask, crowned with ram's horns, and bore a Flagon of Dragons (FR4, The Magister) girded at his waist.

The druidic form of Fenrys will only appear during autumn, and its personality and apparent age will vary with the age of the season. When summer is in its final decline, the druid will appear as a male half elf in his mid-twenties, fair in demeanor and usually willing to compromise before engaging in confrontation. When winter beckons and the frost has arrived, Fenrys appears as a much older half elf. This incarnation is much more ruthless, and has no compunctions about using any means necessary to prevail. It is within reason that mortals may encounter Fenrys at the point in time when he transitions between both of his forms. When wounded, Fenrys issues forth sap as from a tree. This liquid will restore 10-40 years of vigor to an elderly or venerable mortal, or 100-400 years to an elf. Mortals that imbibe but do not fall in this category will age by the same ratio for taking their precious youth for granted.

What has come to be known as the apparition of Fenrys will appear at all other times of year, although only dire circumstances would result in an appearance during the spring. This form stands over twelve feet tall, is gaunt and emaciated, and is completely composed of rotting autumn leaves. The apparition wears a corroded, tattered set of banded mail, and its face is fixed as a smirking mask with long spiral horns and a plume of wild crimson hair emerging from its head. Its taloned hands and feet are clad in tough spiked leather, and its eyes constantly glow with a brilliant golden light.

In all its actions, even while casting spells, the form is completely silent; rational beings must make a Wisdom check or lose a round attempting to disbelieve. Mortals lower than 9th level or creatures with 10 or fewer hit dice must save vs. fear or flee in terror for 1-10 rounds. When damaged, the apparition will simply shed leaves that appear to issue forth from an endless source (the apparition itself never seems to suffer physical damage).

AC -5; MV 18 (varies if shape changed), HP 165; THACO -5; #AT 3*, 3**
Dmg 1-8+15 (scimitar, wounding) or 3-24+10/1-12+15/1-12+15 (save vs. poison or age 5 years)
MR 60%; SZ L (8 feet tall, druid or 12 feet tall, apparition)
STR 22, DEX 20, CON 24, INT 16, WIS 23, CHA 17/10
Spells P: 15/15/12/12/9/6/4; W: 8/8/7/7/6/6/5/4/3 (apparition only, from elemental and necromantic schools only)
Saves PPDM 2, RSW 4, PP 2, BW 6, Sp 4

1 As a druid, Fenrys can attack three times per round with his scimitar.

2 As an apparition, Fenrys can attack twice each round with his talons and once per round with his horns.

Special Att/Def:

In his druidic form, Fenrys acts as a Druid of maximum Hierophant level. He has access to all spheres, and casts spells at the 30th level. However, he restricts his spell selection to druidic spheres (pus time and necromantic) unless truly pressed. In combat, he is armed with a Scimitar +5 of Wounding. After one round of combat, the weapon will engage opponents independently, blinking as necessary to continue the battle. The sword may instantly invoke an immediate call lightning strike three times per day, even from a clear sky. Fenrys will also employ his Flagon of Dragons, the first ever created in the Realms. When the stopper is removed, the breath weapon of an adult dragon chosen by Fenrys will billow forth. This effect is always of maximum damage, and has no effect on those friendly to the god.

The apparition of Fenrys makes no use of melee weapons, instead choosing to engage foes with its horns and talons. Opponents suffering from a strike from any of the three methods must also save vs. poison, or they will age five years. Individuals receiving damage from all three strikes in a single round do not suffer the individual effects, but must save vs. poison at -4 to avoid being reduced to ash. A successful save still requires a system shock roll to avoid a more conventional demise, and the opponent will age 40 years. If the apparition succeeds in completing all three attacks on one character, it will either divide attacks on subsequent rounds or revert to alternate methods of combat. While attacking hand to hand, the apparition can also attack opponents with autumn leaves that issue from its form, striking opponents as a Melf's Acid Arrow cast by a 18th level mage. This attack may be used once per round, and the leaves disappear after striking.

Instead of attacking hand to hand, the apparition can age all opponents in a ten-foot radius. Each individual must save vs. spells at -4 or age sixty years; if this effect places the character beyond their maximum lifespan, death will occur. Opponents who survive this effect will return to their actual ages after three turns. As the apparition, Fenrys will also employ spells; he has no compunctions regarding sphere, and will even draw from elemental and necromantic wizard schools if it suits his purposes.

The Plot to Impersonate Fenrys Andrea